Light Spring Color Palette

The Light Spring color palette

30 colours in four groups and 5 neutrals, each written out with its hex code — tap any code to copy it, or take a whole group at once. The same palette is available as a Light Spring palette card (PNG) sized for a phone screen, to take shopping.

Light Spring core and accent colors

The eight core colours are the Light Spring wardrobe: peach, coral pink, warm rose, buttercup, spring green, mint, aqua and a light periwinkle. Every one is warm or warm-leaning, light and clear — fresh rather than dusty. That is the season: colouring that sits high on the light–deep scale with a golden or peachy cast looks best in colours that are just as light and just as warm.

Accents carry more colour at the same lightness: apricot and light coral, geranium pink, golden honey, leaf green, warm turquoise, clear sky and lilac. Light Spring can wear more clarity than Light Summer — a clean coral or a clear turquoise looks bright and right on it — but not the full saturation of Bright Spring.

The lightest and deepest Light Spring shades

The lightest shades — cream, pale peach, butter, blush, pale mint, pale aqua — replace optic white and pastel greys near the face. The deepest shades are mid-tones: camel, golden brown, coral red, terracotta pink, warm teal, jade, cornflower blue and soft violet. Your deepest neutrals are mid-tones too; true darks look like a separate object sitting under your head.

Light Spring neutrals

• Ivory#EFE3D0
• Warm sand#C8B89A
• Light warm grey#B3A596
• Soft taupe#8A7A66
• Warm navy#4A6284

Five neutrals carry the wardrobe. Ivory replaces optic white; warm navy and soft taupe replace black; warm sand and light warm grey fill the middle. Warm navy is the evening and tailoring answer — lighter and warmer than classic navy — and camel is the coat colour that works best of all.

What makes a Light Spring: warm or cool, light or deep, soft or bright

Light Spring is warmth carried at low weight: fair skin with a golden or peach cast, light hair, and not much distance between the lightness of the hair and the lightness of the skin. The name misleads on one point — light does not mean pale in the sense of delicate. It means the whole colouring sits high on the value scale, so colours with weight in them read as heavier than the face.

The test on this page turns three measurements into numbers between minus one and plus one. Warm–cool is mainly the hue angle of your skin in CIE Lab, with your hair counting for about a third. Light–deep is skin lightness and hair lightness together, with hair weighted slightly more. Soft–bright is the saturation of your irises and the lightness gap between hair and skin, half each.

It calls you Light Spring when three conditions hold. Warm–cool reads warm. Light–deep reads on the light side. And light–deep is at least as far from zero as soft–bright, with at least one of them past 0.3 — meaning lightness is the strongest thing about your colouring.

Hair carries more of the light–deep axis than skin, so golden or strawberry blonde hair is a large part of most Light Spring readings. Light skin with light hair also means a small gap between them, which reads as soft — so on this test a Light Spring is often light first and slightly soft second.

The borders follow. A warm–cool value near zero sits on the line with Light Summer. Lightness that drops below 0.3 turns the result into True Spring. Clarity that overtakes lightness turns it into Bright Spring; softness that does, into Soft Autumn.

Light Spring skin, eyes and hair

These are examples, not a checklist. Light Spring is most often fair to medium skin with a golden, peachy or ivory cast, light warm hair and light eyes — often with a warm ring of gold, amber or light hazel. What colours complement a Light Spring skin tone? The ones in this palette, because it is built to match the relationship between the skin and the light warm hair and eyes, not the skin alone. The ITA figure the test shows measures skin lightness only and is not a season.

Am I a Light Spring? A drape test you can do at home

The two questions that decide it are temperature and value, in that order.

1. 1

   Stand facing a window in daylight, with no coloured walls behind you and no makeup. Do one comparison with your hair visible — on a light season the hair is a large part of the picture.

2. 2

   Test temperature first: peach against soft pink. If peach lifts the face and pink flattens it, you are on the warm side. Then gold against silver.

3. 3

   Then depth: black against warm navy. On a Light Spring black reads as a separate object under the head; warm navy sits with it. Camel should look better than chocolate brown.

4. 4

   Finally, clarity: a clear turquoise against a very saturated one. If the most saturated brights look even better than the clear, light ones, look at Bright Spring. If dusty versions look best, look at Soft Autumn.

• Hold a peach top and a soft pink one under your chin in daylight. If peach lifts the face and pink flattens it, you are on the warm side.
• Now hold black. If it reads as a separate object sitting under your head rather than as part of the picture, your value is light.
• Check your eyes at the rim: Light Springs usually have a warm ring — golden, amber or light hazel — rather than a grey or slate one.

Light Spring vs Light Summer, True Spring and Bright Spring

Light Spring vs Light Summer is the most searched comparison, and on this test it is decided by temperature alone — both are called when lightness is the strongest axis. They share light hair, low contrast and a dislike of black. The difference is the cast of the skin and hair, golden or peachy on a Light Spring and pink or ashy on a Light Summer. Peach against soft pink settles it, as does gold against silver. A cool shaded photo can turn a Light Spring into a Light Summer; the Light Summer color palette covers the cool side.

Light Spring vs True Spring is a question of lightness. True Spring is what the test calls a warm face when no axis except warmth is strong and light–deep is at or just above zero. It looks best in medium-weight warm colours — marigold, jade, clear blue — that look slightly heavy on a Light Spring, while Light Spring's pale peach and butter look weak on it. If marigold beats pale peach, read the True Spring color palette.

Light Spring vs Bright Spring shares the warmth and differs in contrast. Bright Spring is called when clarity is the strongest axis — saturated irises and a large gap between hair and skin — and it wears hot coral, turquoise and vivid yellow at full strength. On a Light Spring those look loud; the lighter, gentler versions look right. If saturated brights make your face look awake rather than overwhelmed, read the Bright Spring color palette.

Light Spring colors to avoid, and what to wear instead

The three colours that fight a Light Spring hardest are below. Three, not thirty — a palette is a prediction about which tones lift the face, not a list of banned colours, so every one of them has a version that does the same job.

• Black#1C1C1C
• Deep aubergine#3B2F5E
• Cool slate#6B7280

Light Spring outfits and clothing

Six combinations built only from the palette, shown in the proportions you would wear them — the largest block is the main garment, the smallest is the accessory.

• Peach and cream

  • Peach#F7C5A0
  • Cream#F5E6C8
  • Camel#C49A6C

  A peach blouse, cream trousers, camel sandals or bag.

• Aqua and sand

  • Aqua#9FD8E0
  • Warm sand#C8B89A
  • Light coral#F07F74

  An aqua top, warm sand chinos, a light coral accent.

• Warm navy workday

  • Warm navy#4A6284
  • Ivory#EFE3D0
  • Coral pink#F2A2A2

  Warm navy suiting, an ivory shirt, a coral pink scarf.

• Spring green weekend

  • Spring green#C9DE8E
  • Ivory#EFE3D0
  • Golden honey#E3AE52

  A spring green knit, ivory jeans, golden honey jewellery.

• Coral evening

  • Light coral#F07F74
  • Camel#C49A6C
  • Butter#F8EBB0

  A light coral dress, a camel wrap, butter-yellow accessories.

• Periwinkle and taupe

  • Light periwinkle#A9B6E3
  • Soft taupe#8A7A66
  • Pale peach#FBDCC6

  A light periwinkle shirt, soft taupe trousers, pale peach knit over the shoulders.

Light-ground, small-scale prints work best: ditsy florals in coral and mint, fine gingham in peach or aqua, light stripes in warm navy and cream. Heavy dark-ground prints and stark black-and-white graphics overpower the face. Light, fresh fabrics — cotton, linen, voile, fine knits — suit the season better than heavy wool, dark leather or velvet.

Light Spring capsule wardrobe

• Camel coat
• Warm navy blazer
• Ivory shirt
• Peach knit
• Aqua or mint blouse
• Warm sand trousers
• Light-wash denim
• Light coral dress
• Cream trainers
• Soft taupe bag
• Light gold or rose gold jewellery

Light Spring color palette for men

A Light Spring man looks best in light, warm tailoring. Light grey-beige, warm sand and warm navy suits replace charcoal and black; a light tan suit with an ivory shirt suits the season well. Shirts in ivory, cream, aqua and light periwinkle. Knitwear in peach, mint, spring green and camel. Ties and pocket squares carry coral, apricot, golden honey and warm turquoise. Leather in tan, camel and light brown suede rather than black. The habit to drop is the black suit with a white shirt: it is the heaviest, coldest combination in menswear and sits in front of a Light Spring face rather than with it.

Light Spring makeup

Everything works at lower intensity than the packaging suggests.

Shade is decided by your season; where the colour goes is decided by your eye shape.

Light Spring nail colors

• Peach#F7C5A0
• Coral pink#F2A2A2
• Sheer apricot#FBDCC6
• Mint#A8D5BA
• Warm nude#EFD2B6
• Light coral#F07F74

The best hair colors for a Light Spring

Golden and honey blondes, light warm browns and strawberry tones. Ash blonde is the usual mistake — it drops the warmth the whole season is built on, and the result reads tired rather than cool.

Golden blonde, honey blonde, strawberry blonde and light warm brown are the natural range. Soft golden babylights and warm, blended balayage keep the contrast low and the warmth up.

Going grey is often subtle on a Light Spring, because light hair greys with less visible contrast. Grey is cool, though, and hair is about a third of the warm–cool reading, so golden or beige blending keeps the palette working longer than letting a cool silver take over.

Hair colors that fight a Light Spring

Ash blonde and platinum are the usual mistakes — they drop the warmth the whole season is built on, and the result reads tired rather than cool. Dark brown and black add weight and contrast at once and push the colouring out of the light seasons. High-contrast chunky highlights fail for the same reason.

Light Spring jewelry: gold or silver?

Gold, in a light or brushed finish. Silver is not disastrous but it sits flat; rose gold works well.

Light yellow gold, brushed gold and rose gold are the natural metals, in delicate rather than heavy pieces.

Should a Light Spring wear gold or silver? Gold. Silver is not a disaster, but it sits flat against the skin; a warm silver-and-gold mix is fine. Stones follow the palette: peridot, citrine, aquamarine, coral, morganite, light turquoise and cream pearls.

Glasses frames work the same way: honey, light tortoiseshell, clear champagne or light gold metal rather than black. Colour is decided here; the frame shape is decided by your face shape.

Light Spring celebrities, and why this page does not list them

People often search whether a particular singer or actress is a Light Spring. This page does not type named people, because a photo cannot answer it: light hair is a large part of the season, celebrity hair colour is chosen and changed by stylists, and warm studio light makes almost anyone with light hair look like a Spring.

The measurement worth having is your own, from a photo taken facing a window — which is what the test at the top of this page reads.

Can your Light Spring color season change?

Your measured result can change even when your colouring has not. A tan darkens the skin and moves the reading down the light–deep axis, so a tanned Light Spring can read as True Spring; the ITA figure the test shows will move with it.

Hair dye moves the result most. Ash or platinum dye pulls warm–cool toward Light Summer; darker dye pushes toward True Spring or out of the Springs. Sun-lightened summer hair can make the result lighter. The system is usually taught as describing natural colouring, but the colours that flatter you follow the hair you actually have.

Why selfie tests give Light Springs different results

Light Spring is the season that two common photo errors can produce together. Overexposure — direct sun, a ring light, a phone brightening the frame — makes skin and hair read lighter than they are. A warm indoor bulb makes them read warmer. Combine the two and a lot of faces that are not Light Springs come out as one.

Take the photo in soft daylight facing a window, with no filter. The test looks for the whites of your eyes and uses them as a neutral reference to correct for the colour of the light, and the result says whether that worked. The full explanation is on the color analysis page.

References

1. 1.Fink, B., Grammer, K., & Matts, P. J. (2006). Visible skin color distribution plays a role in the perception of age, attractiveness, and health in female faces. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(6), 433–442. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2006.08.007.
2. 2.Chardon, A., Cretois, I., & Hourseau, C. (1991). Skin colour typology and suntanning pathways. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 13(4), 191–208. PMID 19291061.